Oceanborn

Hi, I am sure you will love sailing out of San Juan.... it is the best port to sail out of IMHO. I personally would check out around normal time... not really hurry. If you are at the pier by around noon chances are you can board, have lunch, drop off any carry ons then get back off. It is very easy to reboard also. A lot of people do this and treat it almost like another port stop. In our experience most of the time rooms are ready before 1pm... so if you happen to stroll past your room and drop off your bags.....:eek::rolleyes:. Definitely go back out and check out the city or the forts or just wander down the Paseo de la Princessa past all the local vendors. Great city. We have sailed out of there on both Carnival and Celebrity 4 times (Carnival puts you at the best pier) I think FTTF is a waste of money on this itinerary... as there is no real hurry to get on, no tenders etc. We have done this particular cruise on Carnival Victory 2 times (see reviews in signature). Have a great cruise and come back and write a review let us know how it went for you.

Thank you for taking the time to write this, this is exactly the type of personal experience info I was looking for!

Hello fellow cruisers!

My wife and I will be flying to San Juan in 3 days to start our cruise. We are flying in the night before and staying at a boutique. My question is, what (based on your experience) is the best way to handle embarkation day? On previous cruises that left earlier it was a cut and dry case of checkout as early as possible and board the ship, but since this cruise doesn't set sail until 10pm... Not sure what to do...

We were unable to get FTTF, and ideally we would like to get rid of ALL our bags (Both Checked and Carry-on) and then explore San Juan a little then reboard? If this would work out, what time should we show up at the ship initially? When might our room be ready so we can drop off our carry ons etc? Is it easy enough to get off and re-board?

Sorry for so many questions, this is just a completely different embarkation than we are used to and any info to may help me plan would be greatly appreciated!

Unfortunately predictions of precipitation over 7 days out is virtually science fiction.

Wow! Seems like yesterday that we were at the 1mo waiting mark, congratulations! Now we're at the 1 week mark waiting for our 1st anniversary cruise :D. I'm sure things are going to be perfect for you.

I saw you mention that you had flower girls? I'm not sure if you all ready had any special plans made for them, but I know we were told that we were not allowed to bring any off island flowers etc to be used for the flower girls. They said that we could bring fake petals as long as we picked them up. However my wife called the Osprey and asked them if they could arrange anything and they happily said that they would arrange for local flowers to be gathered and prepared for the flower girls to drop which they did perfectly. They didn't ask for compensation, but we tipped them for being so helpful.

I'd post up a video of the Osprey and the Beach, but there's probably something to be said for seeing it yourself for the 1st time in real life ; )

Been following your review since you started. We're headed out on the Valor in 7 days on the same itinerary. We're also headed to St. John, but are so far planning on Cinnamon Bay. It was really a close call between that and Trunk!

Great start! We set sail on the Valor for this itinerary in 7 days. Will be following your review!

CCL has recently purchased/delivered more cocktail napkins that advertise the Match Play offer, so I'd personally guess they don't intend it stop it fleet-wide soon.

It was gong full-force on Carnival Breeze last week.

 

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Agreed, it's a long standing program that's been going on for at least 4yrs (That's when I heard about it) fleet wide. I'm sure it will be there for you to use.

Last time I cruised I was lucky enough to hit on 7 of the 9 match play bets I played so I was quite happy with the virtually free drinks I had all week!

Hola!

My wife and I got married on Grand Turk at the Osprey last year. I've been meaning to write up a review forever, but just never get around to it! If you have any questions about anything just let me know! I've got pictures of everything involved etc if there's anything you want to see. The entire experience was over the top and all the Carnival employees met or usually far exceeded our expectations. You two are going to love it ;)

Just wanted to chime in with a couple of items I haven't seen mentioned yet.

 

First, while you may be seated with other people, they take your order right away and don't make you wait until everyone is there together to be served. So everyone will be at different stages of eating, and you don't have to wait for your table mates. I think they seat you together more for the convenience of the servers so they aren't running around the dinning room!

 

Also, we highly recommend the MDR on port days! It may seem counter intuitive to have a sit-down meal when you are in a hurry, but we find it takes much less time than going to the Lido and waiting in line and then finding a place to sit. The room service breakfast is also good, but sometimes it's nice to have a little bit bigger breakfast if you are going on a long excursion and won't be back until later for lunch.

 

Hope you enjoy it! It's always totally empty in there, so the service is great!

Nice tip! Yea, we definitely were doing the lido mess thinking that it was the fastest route. After looking at the pics of all the MDR menu items linked above. I doubt I'll be eating outside the MDR period short of late night grub runs : ) ...

Basically it means (Using the red/black roulette example above) that you have a %47.37 of getting $5 back on every $8.75 "classic drink" you buy bringing the average cost of a "classic drink" down to $4.61 per drink :D

Ask for the Hollandaise Sauce on the side when ordering eggs benedict. The sauce tends to harden when it is place on the eggs while waiting to be delivered but stays nice and runny in a side dish.

 

Menu for sea day brunch: http://www.zydecocruiser.net/menus/CarnivalCruiseLineSeaDayBrunch.htm

 

Regular Breakfast menu: http://www.zydecocruiser.net/menus/new_11_11/break.htm

 

 

We always eat MDR breakfast on ship.

Bonus! Guess what also made the binder ; ) Thanks!

Printed and added to "the cruise binder", thanks again!

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breakfast is served in the mdr on port days, and has a set 'every day' menu. eggs benedict are on that menu, and yes you can order the same thing every day

 

brunch is served in the mdr on sea days, and has a set 'every day' menu, with a different set of items including some new ones like steak and eggs, huevos ranchero and more lunch-type fare as well.

 

you are correct, both seatings are 'your time dining'

Thank you for the detailed answer! Especially for including the answers to the questions I didn't even know to ask. Our plan was to at the bare minimum go to the MDR for breakfast on our Fun Day at Sea which from your post wouldn't have been serving. We have a port intensive 5 stops with only 1 day at sea, so we should have plenty of other days to try it. Thanks again.

Somehow my wife and I have never made it down to the MDR for breakfast as we're usually just in a hurry to get off the ship, or get on with the days activities! We have a cruise coming up in a couple days and have been talking about changing things up and trying to eat there more this cruise. I had a couple quick questions though.

Is it structured like dinner where you have a pre determined and different list of items to choose from every time (for better or worse), or can you order the same thing every morning? The eggs benedict for example :D Also I'm assuming breakfast is all "your time dining"?

Thanks for the any info!

Lol, sounds like HAL's target IQ. "I just paid $300 to get the free sushi!" Lol what?

I also use TripAdvisor when doing my beach scouting for various ports. Keep in mind not all these beaches listed may be within reach for day cruisers so you have to look at maps etc.

Here's links to Nassau and Freeports:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g147416-Activities-c45-Nassau_New_Providence_Island_Bahamas.html

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g147420-Activities-c45-Freeport_Grand_Bahama_Island_Bahamas.html

Does anyone know how much it costs (or even an estimate) for a full setup (Mask, Fins, Snorkel, Vest) rental? Can't seem to find this info anywhere. Thank you for any info!

We have been to San Juan as a cruise stop several times before and we are very excited to be starting our cruise there as it is one of our favorite ports. So far, we are leaning to the Sheraton because of its location to the port and also to restaurants.

We were wondering, though, if anyone has stayed in any smaller boutique type hotels in the Old San Juan area.

 

 

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We booked a small boutique hotel, but are still 10 days from staying there! We are easy to please though so I'm not expecting any problems. Was only $125

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g147320-d151832-Reviews-Acacia_Boutique_Hotel-San_Juan_Puerto_Rico.html

Lol wow. Shows how subjective everyone's experience can be. We sailed the Victory almost a year ago today with 22 friends and family and our collective experience was almost word for word the opposite of yours including the things you liked lol. No one liked the pizza : / lol

On another note...I noticed one respondent to this posting mentioned notarized copies of passports....are those accepted in place of passport? I carry a copy of our passports on excursions, but not sure why I bother as they are not accepted as legal ID. I carry our drivers licenses as well for ID. Just wondered about the passport copies.

Thanks!

That was me that mentioned that. Honestly I doubt it does. I just figured why the hell not. I'm a chronic over planner and it makes me relax knowing I've covered all my bases to the best of my ability. Honestly doing the research on this one would take longer than just having the cashier at my bank notarize a copy of my passport while I'm in there making a deposit. I wouldn't count on being able to use it for much/anything though...

iPad, TripIt Pro, iBooks, iCloud. Only those things that I must present via paper are hard copy. I don't want to have 3 lbs of packing weight used up by a notebook/folder filled with paper...

None of the airlines I've flown with weigh what's in your hands, and I certainly don't let any of this info out of my sight.

Good organizing. Noticing your late evening sailing from San Juan, I would like to suggest that you find a space on the starboard side of an upper deck for a beautiful view of Old San Juan as the ship pulls out - ending with your passing the dramatically lighted walls and turrets of El Morro (the Spanish colonial citadel guarding the entrance to the harbor).

Fantastic tip! Hadn't heard this yet. We'll be up on the Serenity deck I'm sure.

Do Tokoyo Tea or blue motorcycles count for the $5 chip?

The only drinks that count toward this program are the "Carnival Classic Drinks" which are.

Long Island Ice Tea, Ultimate Margarita, Mojito, The Cruiser, Mai Tai, and Sex on the Beach.

They are $8.75 a piece, but no matter where you purchase them on the ship, as long as you have your receipt for it you will get your $5 chip. Multiples on the same receipt will receive multiple $5 chips no problem, no need for separate receipts. Take your receipts to the cashier in the casino to get your credit. This is a long standing, fleet wide carnival program : )

They sell snorkels at the excursion desk for $5. Not the best in the world but nobody else has been sucking on them. That's all I've ever seen them sell on board. May be some additional gear available in the gift shop.

 

You might want to stop at Wal-Mart on the way to the port. You can probably get a pretty reasonably priced set of mask, fins and snorkel.

If you go on an excursion, equipment will be available there (free to use) next best thing: buy your own snorkel (eBay), or get mask & snorkel (eBay) Try sizes at sporting goods store for correct fit. We always cruise with 2 sets of fins, masks, and snorkels (and my weight belt)

Hmmm, all good info... Sounds like I'll have to do a little more research. Might just get something with good reviews on Amazon then.

My wife and I wanted to try snorkeling a bit on our own this cruise but didn't want to have to pack the extra gear for the trip there. From previous cruises I thought I remember seeing that Carnival sold Snorkel gear on ship? Any experiences with it? Cost, quality, etc etc. Thanks for any info!

Almost everything should be available on a smart phone/ done on-line-- except your boarding pass and passports.

Should work just fine almost everytime! Although personally I won't ever put all my eggs into 1 digital basket. 1 drop/theft/moisture intrusion incident away from being in several countries with no info. Not my style! But yes, my phone is my primary source of data with hard copy backups. All documents are shredded and recycled after the trip.

I keep electronic copies of everything as well. Everything is keyed into my smartphone or available via email. But I don't ever rely solely on one source. You can lose your phone, battery run out, no signal, anything. I like the physical backup for everything. Just my opinion.

**Edit**

Lol, looks like we posted at the same time. As a Database engineer it's impossible for me to think in terms of storing all data in one source!